Towards Other Earths: DARWIN/TPF and the Search for Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets

Editor :

Fridlund, Malcolm

Henning, Thomas

Publisher :

ESA

Collection and collection volume :

ESA SP-539

Pages :

121-131

Peer reviewed :

No

On invitation :

No

Audience :

International

ISBN :

92-9092-849-2

City :

Noordwijk

Country :

Netherlands

Event name :

Towards Other Earths: DARWIN/TPF and the Search for Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets

Event date :

du 22 au 25 avril 2003

Event organizer :

M. Fridlund & T. Henning

Event place (city) :

Heidelberg

Event country :

Allemagne

Keywords :

[en] DARWIN ; Groundbased Interferometry ; Nulling Interferometry

Abstract :

[en] Darwin is one of the most challenging space projects ever considered by the European Space Agency (ESA). Its principal objectives are to detect Earth-like planets around nearby stars and to characterise their atmospheres. Darwin is conceived as a space "nulling interferometer" which makes use of on-axis destructive interferences to extinguish the stellar light while keeping the off-axis signal of the orbiting planet. Within the frame of the Darwin program, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) intend to build a ground-based technology demonstrator called GENIE (Ground based European Nulling Interferometry Experiment). Such a ground-based demonstrator built around the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in Paranal will test some of the key technologies required for the Darwin Infrared Space Interferometer. It will demonstrate that nulling interferometry can be achieved in a broad mid-IR band as a precursor to the next phase of the Darwin program.